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McDonald's not lovin' annual meeting spotlight

McDonald's is about to feel some serious sizzle. Over the next two days -- Wednesday and Thursday -- the nation's biggest burger chain will be walking across a public relations minefield. On Wednesday,

Over the next two days, the world's biggest fast-food chain — which spends billions painting an image of smiles and fun — will be walking across a public relations minefield.

On Wednesday, as many as 2,000 protesters from across the country will gather outside of McDonald's headquarters in Oak Brook, Ill., to call for worker wages of $15 an hour and the right to form a union without retaliation.

On Thursday, those protests are expected to continue outside McDonald's annual shareholder's meeting.

"This will be the largest labor protest that McDonald's has ever faced," says Kendall Fells, 34, the leader of Fast Food Forward, an activist group financed by the Service Employees International Union. "We know McDonald's is preparing for us to come."

The wage protesters promise to make themselves very visible to shareholders and McDonald's executives, including CEO Don Thompson. The movement has picked up steam in recent months as part of the larger minimum-wage debate and even gained global media coverage last week with protests organized in about 30 countries as well as several dozen U.S. cities. McDonald's actions — or inaction — over the next several days could be telling.

But some shareholders may be surprised by the welcome. Among the protesters planning to be there are about 140 McDonald's workers from around the country, 500 other fast-food workers, up to 50 clergy and hundreds of community activists, says Fells. Some political figures also are expected to attend.

A McDonald's worker with six children who says that she's been on food stamps for the 10 years that she's worked at McDonald's, says she's taking a bus to Chicago with other protesters from Kansas City, Mo. "They're making billions ... but we sweep their floors; take out their trash and service their customers," says Melinda Topel, 43, who typically works at the drive-thru cash register. "We don't deserve to live in poverty and to worry about our lights being cut off."

Fells gave no details of the protest plans and refused to say if protesters planned to break any laws — and, perhaps, face arrest. "We don't want McDonald's to know our plans ahead of time," he says. "But they know there will be activity."

For its part, McDonald's says it's making no special plans. "Our preparations, as always, go into providing a positive environment for shareholders visiting our campus and to listen to what's on their minds," says Baker Sa Shekhem.

Even as the broader stock market fell just under 1% on Tuesday, McDonald's was down about 0.6% to close at $101.53

One PR consultant suggests that CEO Thompson won't be able to ignore the wage issue.

Since the issue isn't going away, Thompson might at least consider noting that he's looking into it — and then do just that, says Katharine Paine, CEO of Paine Publishing, a PR measurement consulting firm. "You can't hide under the radar."